March 1 Tax Deadline Nears for Many Farmers and Fishermen; IRS Direct Pay Offers an Easy Way to Pay Taxes

WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service is reminding farmers and fishermen about Wednesday’s deadline to take advantage of special rules that can allow them to forgo making quarterly estimated tax payments.

Taxpayers with income from farming or fishing have until Wednesday, March 1 to file their 2016 Form 1040 and pay the tax due to avoid making estimated tax payments. This rule generally applies if farming or fishing income was at least two-thirds of the total gross income in either the current or the preceding tax year.

Since 2014, IRS Direct Pay has offered individual taxpayers an easy way to quickly pay the tax amount due or make quarterly estimated tax payments directly from checking or savings accounts without any fees or pre-registration.

IRS Direct Pay is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be scheduled up to 30 days in advance. Last year, IRS Direct Pay received more than nine million tax payments from individual taxpayers totaling more than $31.6 billion.

When a taxpayer uses the tool they receive instant confirmation after they submit their payment. Direct Pay cannot be used to pay the federal highway use tax, payroll taxes or other business taxes.

Taxpayers who wish to pay their federal business taxes electronically should enroll in the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), or visit IRS.gov/payments to check out other payment options.

Farmers and fishers choosing not to file by March 1 should have made an estimated tax payment by Jan. 17 to avoid a penalty.